Sadie and Loots’ overview of the South African government’s concern with the development and empowerment of women is provided against the background of the objectives and ideals set out in the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). The government has committed itself to the principle of gender equality and has acknowledged empowerment and emancipation as central concepts in its National Gender Policy. For these reasons alone Sadie and Loots’ analysis is a timely and necessary contribution, not only for those interested in security and development, but as an evaluation of the progress being made in implementing the RDP, in general.

The authors do not profess to make a theoretical contribution, but use the frameworks of well-known feminist authors on the subject of gender relations and, more particularly, policy requirements and implications of development policies. Although a critique of these theoretical perspectives and frameworks might have been valuable, it is understandable that Sadie and Loots do not engage with the various debates in this field. Clearly, the task they had set themselves - evaluating gendered development policies and projects in South Africa - is a big one and incursions into the theoretical field would have been a tall order. In terms of what they set out to do, this chapter as such provides much empirical information and knowledge which could stand theorists in good stead.

One particular aspect which is brought to light in this analysis, but which is not interrogated, is the issue of policy-implementation (and, to some extent, policy formulation as well), especially with regard to the glaring lack, as pointed out by the authors, of the necessary skills, knowledge and capacity to implement development policies, in this case gender-oriented development policies in the form of various national projects. The lack or absence of these is of relevance to wider security and development issues and not only to South Africa. Rather, it points to one of the most crucial ‘shortages’ in the developing world, both in the public and private arenas, namely what Gerald Meier refers to as the ‘superconstraint’ on development - that of a lack of effective management.1 ‘Effective management’, in the political sphere, can also be defined as political will - government’s ability and willingness to implement policies that will raise efficiency and build or enhance security and development. In Africa, it has been shown, also in this and other articles in this monograph, as well as in those in Solomon and Van Aardt,2 that what is most needed, is such effective management, based on the ability and willingness of government to realise its goals. The point is that Sadie and Loots touch upon one of the most crucial challenges to African governments: to develop and enhance their policy-making and policy implementation skills. This challenge includes the very important aspect of gender and knowledge about the subject, the people involved, the needs and, above all, the ability to act upon such knowledge and insight.

The whole question of the so-called ‘superconstraint’ on development brings one to another aspect touched upon in this article: that of empowerment. It is obvious that, given the problems related to efficient policies (i.e., informed policy-making and ‘able’ implementation), whether in the field of development or of security, people, and in the case of this chapter, women have to empower themselves and have to continue their struggle for emancipation. Governments cannot do this, or can, at most, only contribute partially to their emancipation. This calls for a strong society - I deliberately refrain from using the term ‘civil society’ due to its problematic nature in the African context. A strong society is one in which self-help in the form of mobilisation and joint grassroots projects aimed at basic education and life-skills training, plays a major part.

In South Africa, and in a country such as Namibia (dealt with by Thompson), various mechanisms and provisions have been provided, many of them in the constitutions of these countries, which could be accessed and utilised by groups in society, and women in particular, to empower them and to assist them in the struggle for emancipation. Yet, many of these provisions remain little than empty promises on paper, mainly because women often are literally not aware of their existence. When women become aware of their rights and responsibilities, and start to exercise these, the possibility also develops that they will create their own environment conducive to the satisfying of their needs. Africa, it would seem, is a place in which many aspects of security and development need to be people-driven, not because governments are so sensitive to their needs, and/or so democratic, but simply because governments very often do not have the will and, even less, the ability to really supply and maintain the condition of security and to drive and sustain the process of development.

Endnotes

G Meier, Leading Issues in Economic Development, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1989, p. 66.



H Solomon & M van Aardt (eds.), ‘Caring’ Security in Africa: Theoretical and Practical Considerations of New Security Thinking, ISS Monograph Series, 20, Institute for Security Studies, Halfway House, February 1998. In this volume, Van Aardt, in particular, (pp. 110-111) raises the questions of political will, the ability to implement policy decisions and the implications of ineffective or unrealisable security policies.